


The Blanks Between Lines

by Crystalliced



Series: Journey's End [5]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Directly related to Journey's End, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Magic, Sharing Body Heat, annoyances
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-03-08 20:50:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3223019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystalliced/pseuds/Crystalliced
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bunch of stories based off of my Original Work, Journey's End!</p><p>Intended to add a little more characterization.</p><p>C3:  Tyler and Morena duel, with surprising and embarrassing results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected Kindness

   “You’re boring, Tyler.”  Lindsey kicks a rock at my head.  I reach out and pluck it from the air, returning fire.  She dodges, as expected.

    “Yes, well, I didn’t choose to be here, either.”  I respond.  The brunette rolls her eyes.

    “Well, maybe if we weren’t trapped in this stupid ravine...”  Lindsey looks up to the sunlight, peeking in through a crack in the roof.  

     We’re trapped inside a thin crack in the ground, and bunched into its thickest spot, which is about nine feet wide.  The fissure in the earth is only about fifteen feet long and twenty feet high.  I’d try to scale the wall but the lip of the hole and jagged spikes of the sides make that extraordinarily risky.  It was a miracle we weren’t cut to ribbons on the way down, but now we’re trapped with no obvious way out. 

     “Don’t even start blaming me for that!  You’re the one who tripped and got us caught here!”  I retort heatedly, and she ignores me pointedly.  Probably because there’s no real excuse.  Because it’s true?  When she fell in, I was obligated to go down after her, and, well...

     “I wish you were Anna.  A little earth manipulation and we’d already be out.  But nooo.  You have to be a stupid swordsman who can’t manipulate magic.”  I shake my head as she lists her complaints.  

     “I already told you, only pure magicians can use more than one set of elemental spells, and all I can do is fire.  I mean, there are Earth spells I can do on my swords...”  I sigh.  “But those are just physical amplifiers, and won’t help us.  Why don’t you use some of your magic, then?”  Lindsey leans against the wall.  

     “I use a freaking rapier, Tyler.”

     “Then no complaints from you.”  I say, rolling my eyes.  There’s a few minutes of silence, in which we both glare holes at the walls, wishing we could get out.

     “Huh, I guess I was too annoying...”  The brunette mutters softly.

     “Have you finally lost it?” 

     “Remember?  You threatened to drop me in a ravine way back when if I pissed you off too much, and look at us now.”  Her hopeful look up at the cloudy sky is marred by the desperation on her features.  

      “Well, I’m stuck with you too, if that’s any hope.”  Lindsey gives me a flat look.  “It’s not.”  

      “Beggars can’t be picky.”  I say as I drop to the ground, snapping open the top button of my cloak to pull off.  The swordswoman glances at me.  

       “What are you going to do?”  Lindsey asks curiously, her crystal blue eyes focused on me.

       “Sleep.”  I say simply, folding my cloak so that it’s a better mat to lie on.  

       “You’re kidding.”  I let my silence answer for itself as I drop to the floor to rest on my black longcoat.  “...Seriously?”

        “I’m tired, exhausted, and in a few minutes-”  I open up my menu, “-It’s going to be night.”  Indeed, the little light we have is already coloring in what is sure to be a fantastic sunrise.  “We’ve already messaged Anna about our predicament, and we’ve established that we’re not getting out without her help.  So until then...”  I flop on my back, stretching comfortably.  “I’m going to take a nap.  You can kick rocks or whatever you decide is entertaining, though I’d appreciate it if you don’t wake me up.”  I roll onto my side, about five feet of space on either side of me.

       “...Seriously?”  The girl repeats, disbelievingly.

       “Yup.”  I say blandly, internally smiling as I imagine her outrage. 

       “Okay.”  Well, that’s certainly new.

       I close my eyes and wait for sleep to come, letting my mind slowly numb as darkness calls with its seductive promises of oblivion and a new day to come.  The footsteps that slowly grow louder are acknowledged and dismissed.

       Something soft nudges my arm.  I ignore it, in all other aspects dead to the outside world.  

       I jolt abruptly when I feel warmth radiating from a body next to me, a person, I think, who has decided to lie down to me.  Vanilla-scented perfume washes over my senses.  I slowly open my eyes, startled, as Lindsey looks up shyly at me and blushes, only a few inches separating us.

       “...I-It’s cold.”  She mutters lamely, and it’s only then I notice the light blue tint of her lips that signal hypothermia.  Just how much time has passed?

       I sit up and look up, the moon visible through the hole in the stone prison, a shivering girl next to me.  

       “...Oh.”  And it is cold, freezing, actually.  I nod stiffly as a winter chill blows through the air.  Lindsey’s teeth clack audibly and she flinches at the loud sound. 

       I grab the edge of my makeshift sheet, pulling it up and shaking out the dirt before wrapping it quickly around Lindsey, in a motion so fluid that she almost misses it.

       “...!”  Her hands fly up to her throat as I snap the cloak shut around her.

       “...B-But...T-Tyler...!”  The brunette scrambles for words as I pull out one of the swords sheathed at my waist.  “Y-You’ll be c-cold, too!”  I glance at her as a small smile comes to my lips.

      “You think so?”  I wonder out loud, before activating a simple flame spell that wraps around my hand.  Gently pressing my hand to some of the nearby wood, I set it alight with a small transfer of mana, creating a cozy fire.  

      “I-I take it back, you’re not such a terrible camping partner.”  Lindsey murmurs so quietly I almost miss the words.  I sit down next to the fire quietly, shrugging as the girl scoots up to me.

      “Fire is practical.”  I say simply.  Her response is to lean her head against my shoulder, her shivers having already dissipated.  

      “Thank you.”  She whispers sleepily when I don’t move away, instead wrapping an arm around her shoulder.  I watch sleep overcome her as her eyes slowly close, never leaving the gaze of my own.

       Unbidden, a small smile slowly crosses my lips.   Friends.

**  
  
**

       “Hey, guys!  I’m here!”  A certain redhead calls out, reaching the spot where the email told her to go.

       “Um...guys?”  The girl pauses as the ravine makes itself evident, a crack in the ground normally hidden.  The email, however, specifically guided her to avoid the fissure, detailing its dimensions and quality, and using those instructions the magician has no issues avoiding the hole.  It should be just as easy to get her friends out, if they’re still in there...

       “...Hello?”  The witch lies down and peeks over the edge of the cliff.

       “...Oh...”  Somehow, her two friends have awkwardly tangled, legs intertwined and Lindsey’s head resting on Tyler’s chest, arms splayed against him.

       “...Well, what do I do now?”  It only takes the girl a few seconds to find her answer.

**        Anna pulls out a camera and grins.   
**


	2. Justification

The stone path leading towards the dungeon is cracked in many places, a trip hazard for the particularly klutzy.  This translates to Anna slipping every ten meters, though it could be successfully argued that her accidents has everything to do with her falling over her own two feet.

     The bare pine trees to the left and right of us stand tall, still lightly sprinkled with the snowfall of last night.  Their fallen pines, evergreen peeking out from the white, still poke out.  The sun, high up in the air, beats down upon us, though the heat is not uncomfortable.

     One would have to look very closely indeed to search through the shadows created by the thick barrier of trees surrounding the path.  It is easy to slip between the trunks lining the stone, but not recommended, as monsters lurk in the shadows.  In the darkness, an ambush is not only possible but likely, and no one harbors a death wish.  While Red Stalks and the occasional Electric Serpent meanders along the path, they are not high in number nor bunched together and are very easy to dispatch.

      The girl besides me clearly itches to slash something into bits, as evidenced by the blues of her irises darting around rapidly with the faintest of frowns set upon her moist lips, but Anna has yet to miss a Fire Bolt and Lindsey, with all her ridiculous speed, simply can not outrun an oversized dart of flame exploding from the tip of Anna’s shiny new Power Wand.

      “Why are you staring at me?”  The brunette running alongside me asks, a curious note in her voice.  She doesn’t glance at me, too busy searching for a monster to stare down before it bursts into flames, courtesy of Anna.  

      “I was thinking about how stupid you were to let Anna take the Power Wand.”  I reply simply, watching the aforementioned girl stop, aim carefully, and release a Fire Bolt that rushes across the field to slap into an Electric Serpent over a hundred yards away. 

     “Well, she needed it.  She is lower in level....”  Lindsey responds, her feet kicking off of the stone to quickly and effortlessly decapitate a Red Stalk that Anna leaves behind for us, either too tired to fire off another shot or feeling merciful.  

     “That’s because she didn’t have to fend off a bunch of assassins.”  I reply.  “Though they weren’t even good for giving us levels, shame.”  

     “How do you talk about killing people so easily?”  Lindsey wonders out loud, blinking as I shoot a stare her way.  “Don’t take that the wrong way, I’m just curious.”  

     “You do realize that, at this point, you’ve killed mor-”  I pause.  No, I’ve killed...Adam and one of the assassins, and that giant party with Anna.  Lindsey only killed two, once in self-defence and one aggressively.

     “They knew what they were doing.”  The swordwoman says evenly, the tip of her blade slicing into another Electric Serpent.  “I don’t regret my actions that morning, but at the same time, I don't casually make jokes about them as if they were anything less than human.”  I shrug.

     “They weren’t the first I’ve killed.”  I say, thinking about my competitive, blood-soaked childhood.  “And they won’t be the last.  But I don’t want to waste my time feeling sorry for the people who attack me.  They knew the risks and paid the consequences.  I can’t spend time feeling guilty about them, because I know that if I travel with people, I will eventually lose someone to this world, and that’s when I’ll feel bad about someone dying.  I was too busy then to feel bad about it, and enough time has passed to where I don’t even feel a tinge of sadness now."  There's a short pause, where our footsteps pounding on the path is the only sound to be heard.

    "That seems fair."  The girl says simply, sheathing her newest rapier, Moonlight, one of the Omniscient Guardian's boss drops.  I glance at her curiously, surprised.

     "You don't feel anything?"  Lindsey inquires, stopping to stare at me.  I slow to a walk, as well.  "Nothing?  Not even a twinge of compressed pain?"  Her sapphire eyes burn into my own, seeking the truth.  

     "No, not anymore."  And that is indeed the truth.  Once upon a time I would have felt hollow, agonized over the death of another, maybe.  Now, no.  I'm far too battle-hardened, by the life I led and choose to lead now.  

     "Why?"  Lindsey whispers.  "How?  How can you stand it?"  Her voice cracks, and I know that she really does hurt over taking the two lives.  "Killing in self-defense, I can understand.  But...what other reasons are acceptable?  What justifies a murder?"

     "It's not murder.  Manslaughter, Linds.  I didn't plan to run into a group of assassins."  That doesn't reassure her.

     "Had you killed me, would you still believe that?"  The brunette murmurs, as I falter, hesitating, before continuing to walk.

      "You were different."  I say, finally, filling the tense silence that has settled, broken only by the occasional hiss of a Fire Bolt in the distance.   And that still would have only been manslaughter.  But that’s a poor excuse.

     "Because I'm a girl?"  Lindsey asks frankly. 

     "Because you reminded me of someone I used to know."  I murmur.  "Someone who fought to survive just as much as you do.  Someone long gone now.  But she didn't deserve to die.  And neither did you."  The void looms, threatening to pull me into darkness.

     "What...makes me different?  From the others?"  She asks, tentatively, as if afraid to hear the answer.

     "Had you won our fight, would you have killed me?  For all your bravado?"  I ask, and there isn't any hesitation when she replies.

     "No."

     "That's what I mean, Linds."  She considers this before nodding.

     "And do you think you deserve to live, Tyler?"  She replies after a moment's thought, her gaze catching mine and holding it.  

    "No.  But-"  I cut her off as her mouth opens to object, "That doesn't mean I don't have a purpose here, which is, ultimately, to clear the game with those that do deserve to live a happy, peaceful life."

     "I...see."  I get the distinct feeling that there is more the girl wants to say, but she turns her head away and continues walking.  After a short pause, I continue, trailing after her, where we travel in silence.

     "We should probably catch up to Anna."  Lindsey says, sniffling, and I realize that she was...crying...

    "Linds-"

    "And-"  The girl chokes, though it seems that she's trying to force a smile, "It would be completely accidental if we happened to steal some of her exp, right?"  I stare at the back of her head.

    "Yeah."  I agree, after a moment's thought, "It certainly would be."  Lindsey turns towards me, offering her hand, her eyes beckoning me forward, to take it, the radiant smile on her face...

    For my sake.

    I take her hand and she pulls me forward, laughing, as we race off down the cobblestone.

    But those tears will always be on my mind, and I will always wonder...


	3. Training Accident

3\.  Training Accident

Rating:  T for Teens and Up

Tyler x Morena

Floor 2, before boss fight.

The fire attack is absorbed into my golden blade even as more of it pours from Morena’s outstretched hand, wand at her side.  A simple practice duel across an abandoned desert plain.

    “Come on, Morena.  You should know by now that fire doesn’t work on me.” 

    The brunette in question grits her teeth before changing tactics, bringing her wand up to fire a dazzling orb of electricity.  I use my other sword to parry, though the cheap steel cracks under the pressure.  

    “Only if you block it with that blade.”  She lets up on the fire, putting both hands on her wand as it frosts over.  Alarmed, I jump back a few meters, settling into a defensive position.

     A massive, torrent-like wave of snow flies at me.  Instinctively, I coat my blades in fire before leaping backwards rapidly, trying my best to stay out of range.  Unexpectedly, a fireball flies right through the ice, slamming into my golden sword and melting it, the precious metal dripping onto the ground. 

    It can’t produce fire while absorbing fire.  It has to pick one.  Morena’s effectively overloaded the runes that allowed it to channel fire, and now it’s less than useless.  Growling,  I hurl the rapidly-cooling blade in her general direction, breaking her concentration.  The icy spell ends.

    She stomps her foot on the ground, causing a circular pillar of nearly opaque, sapphire-colored crystal to rise at her feet, taking her with it.  

    “Ice, earth, fire.  Interesting, indeed.”  I can detect the elements using my Tracker senses.  

     She quickly demonstrates the practical use of what seems to be nothing more than a pretty platform.  A second stomp cracks a thin sheet of crystal on the top before she pulls her foot back and kicks it, sending a razor-sharp thin disc of death at me.  

      I block with my sword - a huge mistake.  On contact, the projectile explodes with fairly significant force, sending me flying back across the sand as a cloud of mist billows out from the explosion point.

      The elements separate upon explosion.  Fire and ice create the mist.  Earth...probably takes the form of shrapnel.  What a deadly weapon...

      A second disc comes flying in through the mist, forcing me to duck.  I strafe sideways, trying to get away from the mist that blocks my view of Morena. 

      When I catch sight of her, I realize that she’s holding one of the crystal discs in her hand, scanning the area for me.  When she finds me, she pivots on the spot before hurling the projectile.  The velocity is much greater than when she kicks it...though it’s still easy enough to dodge.  

    A thin electric line flies past me, and it’s almost too late that I realize it is a tether.  I dodge to the side as Morena yanks on the electric string, causing the disc to bounce back.  It smashes against the ground in front of me in another explosion of mist.

     I try to launch a Fire Blast at the crystal pillar through the mist, but apparently there is enough water vapor to put the fire out.  Switching tactics, I sprint to the side, sheathing my sword.  Running to the left, I focus for a bit as I forcefully manipulate my magic, eventually creating a shining bow and arrow out of nothing but flames. 

     She’s still confused, looking around for me.  Good. 

     Pure elemental manipulation on that level nearly completely drains me, but it should be enough.  This is my most powerful ranged attack.  

     Morena turns around, alarmed at the sudden spike of energy in the air, but it’s too late.  I draw the bow back mid-dash and fire it within a second, giving her no time to effectively react.  The crystal pillar erupts in an explosion as I forcefully destabilize the element balance in it. 

    There’s the major weakness.  Combining elements requires a very specific amount of each.  Disrupting the equilibrium completely ruins it.  

    For a moment, she doesn’t reappear, and I’m afraid I’ve seriously harmed her, but a bolt of lightning nearly takes my head off and I realize that she’s perfectly okay.

     She’s also flying in the air, about twenty meters off the ground.  I quickly extract a Mana Regeneration potion and drink it, not taking any chances. 

     “Er...are you sure you want to use wind manipulation like that given my affinity?”  If she’s coating herself in wind energy and I nick her with fire, she’s going to go up in flames.

     To my surprise, she just laughs.   

     “I’d love to see you try to burn me.”  Right.  Phoenix Magician.

     Electricity suddenly covers her in an armor-like coating, drastically increasing her intimidation factor.  It seems to solidify, taking on a definite shape.  That level of manipulation alone is shocking, but then she holds out her hand and the air in front of her seems to condense, taking on a visible form.  A sword...?

     Things are getting really interesting.  I withdraw two steel swords and wrap fire around both, taking an offensive stance as she dives towards me at an incredible speed, though not one I can’t keep up with.

      When our blades crash, her sword catches on fire, before suddenly seeming to explode with vicious force.  The hit sends me flying backwards, tumbling against the ground before I come to a painful stop dozens of meters away. 

      Only my hasty application of ice-based armor saves me from unconsciousness, but it takes out a sharp chunk of my mana and doesn’t stop what I suspect is a concussion. 

      It really is a good thing that I have been steadily training an ice affinity.  It’s extremely difficult...but I’m trying anyways.  I simply need defensive magic and fire is no good for that.  Neither is electricity.

      But I have a long way to go.  My one ice ability is extremely taxing and fairly weak, but, even then, it still has plenty of use.  It’s good enough to protect me from snapping bones, at any rate.

      I stand up shakily as Morena blows on her wind sword, putting the fire out.  It’s almost mocking me, how easily she does it.  I’ve been underestimating her far too much.  It’s time to get serious.  

      I concentrate on the sword in my left hand, sending mana rushing into the blade.  

The ground beneath me actually cracks with the intensity of the energy input...and output, as the steel liquefies, compresses, and solidifies turning my once-light sword into a dense steel dagger.

       And heavy, as I find out, almost dropping it as I pluck it out of the air.  It should be able to pierce that electric armor of Morena’s with no effort, now, but I need to keep her unbalanced before she takes the opportunity to figure out what I’ve just done.  

    I rush at the girl, moving diagonally somewhat once I get closer.  She tracks me, refusing to move from her spot.  

    Her mistake.  I throw the blade as soon as I get within a few meters.  She attempts to block with her wind sword, but, as I had hoped, my dense knife is far too heavy to be affected.  It cuts right through the sword...and then taps against the tip of Morena’s lightning breastplate and falls to the ground with a heavy thump.

     What.

     The brunette tsks me almost patronizingly, bending down to pick up the knife.  I can see her visibly straining to pull it off the ground.

     Her mistake.  I’m quick enough to get around and behind her by the time her head bobs back up.

     “Wha -- ah!”  Morena quicksteps backwards as my fire-encased sword slashes right down the center of her lightning armor, dissipating it.  Fire beats electricity.

     I dodge her retaliatory fireball and kick her wand out of her hand, firing off a point-blank Raze to finish the combination attack.  It’s a simulation, of course -- lightning could have been used to the same...effect...

     Um...

     “Eep!”  The blood rapidly drains from Morena’s face as she realizes that my point-blank fire wave attack had...unexpected consequences.  

     Morena may be nigh-invulnerable to fire attacks, but...her clothes certainly aren’t.

     Without a word, I strip my cloak off and toss it to Morena, who has collapsed to a sitting position in a rather pointless attempt to cover herself up. 

     Er...

     Well, she’s not exactly proportioned for a fourteen-year-old girl.  I guess I have to guess her age again. 

     Morena climbs back to her feet once she gets situated, cheeks flaming.  I pretend not to notice that.  

     Though she’s hilariously short.  The bottom of my cloak trails along the ground as we silently make our way back to the inn. 

     Anna greets us at the entrance. 

     “Um.”  She looks between us, eyes wide, at Morena’s ruffled look and the fact that her face is still glowing red and also because she’s wearing my clothes.

     “Training accident.”  I say flatly.  “Don’t mention it.  Ever.”  We walk past her, Morena fleeing to her room and slamming the door shut.

      It takes about four seconds before peals of hysterical laughter ring out from the living room.

**       I never get my cloak back.   
**

**Author's Note:**

> Character cast and world borrowed from Journey's End, my own story. ;3


End file.
